21 Pictures of America's Modern-Day Ice Age

This week temperatures across the United States dipped to -26.7 degree Celsius on the heels of the frigid, dense air known as a polar vortex, which has swept across the Midwest and through a huge portion of the United States, with Chicago being particularly affected.

The freeze-wave brought dangerously cold temperatures, colder than any seen for 20 years, and transformed the Chicago shoreline along Lake Michigan into what looked like a scene from The Day After Tomorrow. Here's our photo collection, straight from the heart of the ice.